During a new campaign called "Taking It to the Streets," anyone interested in signing up for classes doesn't have to go to the campus to do so. The college will set up registration tents from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., beginning today, at a number of locations in town. The campaign will take place during five days through Aug. 7.

"It's a trip to get up the hill to us," said Peter Perhac, chief executive officer of the Alpine campus. "We thought we'd come to them."

Today, the campus has tents set up at Bud Werner Memorial Library, and Safeway and City Market grocery stores.

According to the college, the campus offers Associate of Arts, Associate of Science and Career Technical Associate of Applied Science degrees and certifications in Ski & Resort Management, Emergency Medical Technician certification, Pre-Nursing, Business/Accounting/Entrepreneurship, Science and Visual Arts.

The campus also offers classes for GED, ESL and concurrent enrollment courses for local high school students. In addition, a number of noncredit and personal interest courses, including Historic Preservation, Alternative Medicines and Getting Your Book Published, will be offered.

Perhac said creating the program was a response to lower enrollment, a problem affecting many college campuses across the country. He said last year's enrollment was down about 5 percent from the 2007-08 school year. This year, 275 freshmen have enrolled for the fall semester, which is about 3 percent lower than freshmen enrollment for the 2008-09 school year.

The appeal of the Alpine campus attracts a lot of students from outside the district and from other states, Perhac said. He suspects that, combined with the economic recession, is the reason the campus's enrollment declined in recent years, Perhac said.

"Because of the economy, students are staying home and going to their local college," he said.

Perhac added that enrollment for noncredit courses also is down. He said the goal of the "Taking It to the Streets" program is to boost credit and noncredit enrollment numbers.

In addition to making registration available at the tents, faculty and staff from the college will be available to answer any questions. And, Perhac said, classes don't have to be paid for on the spot. Anyone who enrolls in a class can elect to pay later, he said.

"We hope this (program) will be an incentive for people to sign up," he said.